Princess Tutu

Ah, Princess Tutu. My favorite anime. Seriously, my most favorite. Anime. Ever. :)

(Click here to watch the Japanese promo trailer)

This anime is about a duck named Duck (Ahiru in Japanese) who sees a handsome prince dancing by her lake, and falls in love with him. The prince's eyes are always sad, however, so Duck wishes to help him. Suddenly, an old man appears and gives her a magical pendant to transform herself into a girl, and then into a magical ballerina named Princess Tutu. She discovers that the prince is actually from a story that the old man wrote called "The Prince and the Raven." In this story, the prince shattered his own heart to seal away the Raven. Since then, stories and reality have intertwined and it's up to Princess Tutu to restore the pieces of the prince's heart.

• Age Appropriateness: Preteens +
• Content Rating: Although the name and look may suggest otherwise, I would recommend this one for about age 11 and up, due to the complicated plot. I just think smaller children would get confused in it. Swearing is very mild and very minimal. There are also a couple times too where a character is naked, but nothing is explicit and it is not sexual. It is either being used to convey feelings and ideas (such as despair or being one with nature), or because it is realistic (such as when the bird form of Duck transforms into a girl. Of course she wouldn't be wearing anything. Ducks don't.) Princess Kraehe, the main antagonist, is dressed quite immodestly as well. 
• Dub vs. Sub: I would suggest watching this with the English dub (because Lucy Christian is awesome!) but the Japanese with subtitles is a wonderful way to watch it as well. You really can't go wrong either way. 
• Overall Rating: I would give Princess Tutu a 5/5. I watched this anime for the first time a few years ago, and it is still my absolute favorite. I will warn, however, that the show may be difficult to get into at first, mostly because it may seem repetitive and goofy, but please keep watching . Give it until at least after episode 6 or 7 when Princess Kraehe appears. That's when it gets really good! This anime has so many twists and turns and actually has more to it than it appears. The classical music is beautiful and the numerous ballet references to other ballets is genius. 

Princess Tutu picture from: http://www.freewebs.com/siteoftheswan/apps/photos/photo?photoid=111529937

Jump Rope

Not only is this a good song, but it is a great video as well. Fun thing about this video too is that it was made by lots of different people, all who took a section, made their own part, and then put it all together. These are called MEPs, by the way. Don't ask me what a MEP stands for. I actually have no idea. :/
Anyway, here's the video, as well as the description from YouTube. Enjoy!



Song: "Jump Rope" by Blue October
Theme: Animash - working through life's ups and downs
Host: Hinokara

Part 1 - Sawnahhh
Part 2 - XReiKaoriX
Part 3 - Annnarchist
Part 4 - CorpseBridesmaid
Part 5 - DiamonddollJeanette
Part 6 - CherryFoxify

Cosplay

I love to dress up. And I love to make my own costumes too! So, naturally, being somewhat of a geeky nature, I love cosplaying.
Now, for those of you who don't know what cosplay is, according Wikipedia, it is " short for "costume play." [Cosplay is] type of performance art in which participants wear costumes and accessories to represent a specific character or idea." Some popular sources of cosplay come from anime, manga, sci-fi, fantasty, video games, and films. Some people will take it to a level of awesome where they act out their part as well, but for me, I just like the dressing up part. :)  

Here are some pics of a few of my favorites, just to give you a good idea:

 Princess Peach

 Anastasia

 Odette from The Swan Princess

 Emily from The Corpse Bride

 Ganondorf from Legend of Zelda

 Korra from The Legend of Korra

 Mulan

 Thumbelina

 Link

 Giselle from Enchanted

 Peter Pan and the lost boys

 Dot from Reboot

 Mai from Avatar the Last Airbender

 Astrid from How to Train Your Dragon

 Tangled

Now, I know it is really early on in the year to be thinking about what I want to cosplay as (the usual convention I attend isn't until August, although there is another in May), but I've decided what I want to do.
And here it is:
My most exciting project for the year:













RAINBOW DASH!!!
From My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic!

I am sooooooo excited!!! I didn't really understand what the hype was about this show, and why there was such a huge fan-base for it, until I started watching it a couple weeks ago. I'm hooked, and I love the show. It's cute, but also very, very funny! 
It's kind of funny though. My favorite pony tends to be Rarity, but for some reason, I really wanted to cosplay Rainbow Dash instead. Must be that awesome hair of hers... ;)
 Anyway, I have some great ideas for my costume, so I'll be posting my progress here on the blog every now and then. 
Also, Kessie and Brandon are in on this as well! (Seriously, I have THE SWEETEST husband EVER! He knew I really wanted to do this one, so he said he would join in, and I promised I would 1.) Make his costume looks awesome 2.) Not make him wear a wig, ears, or wings. Which I'm totally fine with). I wanted us all to match, so Kessie will be Scootaloo and Brandon is going to be Soarin', one of the Wonderbolts. This. Is. Going. To. ROCK!!!! :D

So here's my wig I just ordered. (Click on the picture to see where I got each item from. That way, if you're looking to make your own, this can help you find what I found!)

It should be here in about a month, so I'll have a picture of me trying it on and see what it looks like. :)

Plus I just ordered these as well, for both me and Brandon.

 I got the jacket in the mail today, but it's a little big, so we'll see if I can exchange it for a smaller size.

And here's a baseball tee to go underneath. I'm planning on putting Rainbow Dash's cutie mark on the front. :)

Woot! :)         

Mending Severed Bonds

Wow, it sure has been a while! Christmas craziness and fun has kept me from updating things here, but I'm back now and *hopefully* ready to keep the blog updated regularly. :)
This week's video is Mending Severed Bonds by LovingHeartbreak, starring Jim from Treasure Planet and Thumbelina from Thumbelina, as well as other animated characters. I just love these crossover videos, and LovingHeartbreak does such a gorgeous job! Seriously, it all looks like one movie!
Since there is an actual storyline with this one, I'll post the editor's description at the bottom. Enjoy!



SCENARIO/STORY INFO:
(You will have to imagine Jim and Thumbelina being in their late teens to early 20s in order to get through this video. Also, Thumbelina is human size in this ^_^)
Jim works as a space cadet and so he travels alot. One night, however, he returns home early as a surprise, but he finds his wife in the arms of another man (Tulio). They argue and their marriage goes sour for a while with Jim hardly ever talking, or looking, at Thumbelina. Thumbelina feels the shame, but she tries her best to make it up to him. This goes on for months, until a sudden move to France causes the couple to swallow their pride and rekindle their marriage. Only this time, fate has something else in mind for the young couple...

DISCUSSION:
This plot was inspired by "The Painted Veil", the only major difference here is that Thumbelina doesn't resent her marriage, she actually loves Jim. Her affair was a cry for the physical love and attention that Jim wasn't able to deliver while he was away. As for the child, Jim is the father, not Tulio :)